This invention pertains to the art of packaging, and more particularly to packaging large articles of furniture.
The invention is particularly applicable to a container packaging arrangement for a desk and will be described with particular reference thereto. However, it will be appreciated that the application has broader applications and may be advantageously employed in packing other articles of furniture, as well as other cargo.
In the past, and as still widely used today, container packaging has been comprised of a large number of packaging elements that cooperate to support and protect an article from damage during shipment or handling. A substantial number of articles are returned or sold as damaged goods due to the insufficient packing arrangement.
Typically, container packaging for large articles of furniture is built around or based on a pallet, skid, or similar sturdy base member. The furniture article must be supported by and protected from damage with the base member since it serves a solely utilitarian function in adapting the container packaging for handling by equipment such as forklifts.
In prior arrangements, each exposed surface of the furniture or article is protected by a separate packing element, or typically several packing elements in an effort to limit potential damage thereto. As can be expected, this results in a large number of individual packing elements that must be produced and assembled to cooperate with each other. Beyond the mere inventory problem of maintaining sufficient packing elements on hand, the packing process is particularly labor intensive. Additionally, manufacture of the various packing elements becomes relatively complex due to the myriad of shapes and sizes of the packing elements. Assembling all the various elements to adequately pack and protect an article of furniture requires special training in addition to maintaining a large number of elements in inventory as noted above.
Still another difficulty encountered in prior container packaging assemblies is the inability to accommodate incremental increases in the size of furniture articles. By way of example, desks increase in six inch increments and thus a series of small, medium, and large desks requires different sized packaging elements. No systematic method or structural arrangement has been provided to deal with the size variations in furniture.